


Lance's backstory - Witcher!Shiro AU one shot

by autumnlibrarian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, Voltron au, witcher shiro au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 12:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12432414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnlibrarian/pseuds/autumnlibrarian
Summary: “Lance. It hasn’t even been two months since you joined us. Your healing and recovery are going to take time – it’s not like I snap my fingers and everything will be alright. Listen. Keith and Pidge were growing up in completely different environments than you… Would you maybe… like to tell me about it?” Shiro’s voice was understanding and gentle. When he saw boy’s asking look he added: “About your childhood? And the time before I found you…”





	Lance's backstory - Witcher!Shiro AU one shot

**Author's Note:**

> Before the actual fic - please, have on mind that English is not my first language and I tried my best to write it as understandable and correct as it was possible for my own skills and the help that Internet was able to provide me.
> 
> Have also on mind that there is a suicide mention - if you are sensitive to this, think twice before reading.
> 
> I would really appreciate it if you'd like to reblog it on [tublr](https://autumnlibrarian.tumblr.com/post/166481145592/lances-backstory-witchershiro-au-one-shot) if you liked it!
> 
> You can also find more about my AU [here](https://autumnlibrarian.tumblr.com/tagged/witcher-shiro-au)!

It was one of colder nights of their journey.

They settled on the edge of the forest, where the trees grew more rarely and the open space with soft, short grass began.

Shiro said that going through these woods would be the quickest way to reach village of Samea for supplies and then they was going to travel quite a long distance east, straight to Daibazaal, where – hopefully – they would learn how to control these weird ‘powers’? ‘Abilities’…?

Whatever they were, Lance just really wanted them gone.

Sitting near the bonfire that Shiro and Keith lit, he brought his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He wasn’t really cold – must have been due to that strange 'watery nature’ of his – but sitting like this with the others felt almost like he belonged somewhere again.

 

Pidge was already asleep, curled on the pile of bags in a position that allowed her to get comfortable and at the same time to not break her branches. It was spring, so their dark wood were covered in green leaves and beautiful flowers, casting a nice sweet smell around, that got even stronger due to the warmth of the bonfire.

 

Keith, on the other hand, was pouncing few meters away on the open field, trying to catch fire flies. He was letting out quiet growls, jumping from one place to another, wagging his short black tail with irritation.

 

Lance smiled a little, looking at his attempts to catch the glowing bugs, because he couldn’t shake the thought that Keith himself reminded him about a fire fly now – the magma visible under his hard black skin glowing in the dark, leaving a smudged traces of light as Keith moved around quickly.

 

“Keith, please, try not to eat any of them this time, alright?” Shiro asked with a soft smile, sitting down next to Lance. His request flew through without any reaction – the boy was too focused on little glowing creatures to pay attention to some lectures. Shiro chuckled quietly. “Last time when he had an opportunity to play with fire flies, he ended up throwing up through half of the night.”

 

They both looked at Keith for a while, little smiles on their faces.

 

“Hey, you probably shouldn’t rub them like this” Shiro noticed, pointing at Lance’s hand that was placed on the side of his bandaged neck without him even knowing about this.

 

“Yeah, I just- … I-it’s still a little hard to breathe like this…” Lance lowered his hand to pick at the scales on his elbow subconciously. They looked better since Takashi found him, healthier. They grew more regularly and were more shiny, bright blue, turquoise and light pink reflecting on them.

 

“Even after I cleaned them and bound with fresh bandage?” Lance nodded a little. Shiro sighed with worry. “They are going to get better in time, you will see, but you have to help them adapt. They won’t adjust on their own, you know? You have to be willing to help them develop.”

 

“How am I supposed to be willing to do so, when I am not even able to breathe on land NOR in the water? I can suffocate anytime if I take the bandage off – I am scared!” Lance raised his voice, feeling how his heart got all heavy in his chest, but he pursed his lips and lowered his head when he saw how Pidge shifted on her place. He sighed with irritation. “I’m sorry, I’m just- … It just seems so unfair that Pidge and Keith’s bodies are also mutated – Keith’s even more than mine – and yet they are not in pain, like, at all. My spine still hurts, even though you said that removing the tail would help. My scales and gills are still itchy…”

 

He looked to the side, feeling Shiro’s hand on his shoulder.

 

“Lance. It hasn’t even been two months since you joined us. Your healing and recovery are going to take time – it’s not like I snap my fingers and everything will be alright. Listen. Keith and Pidge were growing up in completely different environments than you… Would you maybe… like to tell me about it?” Shiro’s voice was understanding and gentle. When he saw boy’s asking look he added: “About your childhood? And the time before I found you…”

 

Lance lowered his gaze on his fidgeting fingers. Long silence fell between them, but Shiro wasn’t pushing. He waited patiently, adjusting the wood in the bonfire and glancing at Keith, who now were rolling around in the grass.

 

When the boy spoke again, his voice was quiet and unsure, but it was enough to draw Shiro’s attention to him.

 

“When… when I was little, it was all fun and games – there was me and my twin sister and another one that was older.” He smiled at the memory. “Mom always said we were everywhere in the village at once – playing with other kids, messing around, pulling pranks, you know, kids’ stuff. I… wasn’t really thinking about it too much back then, but… sometimes, when I was sad, the rain started? Or-or when I was happy when we played at the lake, the water kind of… floated around for a second? But not in a natural way, you know what I mean… After some time all of this started to happen more often and stronger and… other kids told me that my eyes flicker with light. It was when next three sisters of mine were already with us – so there was me and five girls at that time. Since then more and more kids stopped playing with me. But it wasn’t like they wanted to. Their parents were afraid, because I wasn’t normal. Slowly it came to this point where only my sisters played with me. And, well, I was actually still happy – having ten sisters is a thing, you know?”

His face brightened again for a moment, when he looked at Shiro with those words.

“They and parents always said that I am special, when I asked why am I like this. Of course they didn’t know why this was happening to me – everybody else in the village was normal. They were tolerating me, but I had seen their looks, felt their bodies tense when they had to pass by me. I mean, I didn’t really mind them treating me like this. But when I had seen that they also start to give such looks to my sisters, I felt this rage build up in me. They did nothing wrong, they hadn’t even shown any signs of these powers either, so I couldn’t understand why people denied them from playing with their children!

And then-… Dad went hunting and… never came back… Even though the rest of the group that he left with came back sound and safe…” Lance clenched his fists, feeling how these old emotions were coming to life in him again.

“I was devastated. We all were. But my misery caused very bad weather for months. It was raining everyday. The crops were totally ruined. The roofs started to leak, because they weren’t prepared for a weather like this… I still think that it were them. They killed him, I am sure of this. What else could happen? If after these few months they came straight to our house and demanded that my mother gave me up to them, so they could get rid of me for the sake of good weather, then what else could happen to our father?” His voice cracked and the low rumble of thunder could be heard somewhere in the distance.

Shiro raised his head to look at the sky, even Keith stopped pouncing around to glance at the dark clouds that slowly gathered above the forest.

Lance was mad and clearly upset with all these bitter memories. They caused him greater pain than the distortions of his body and Shiro saw this in his face, in tensed muscles, in clenched fists that were shaking a little, placed on Lance’s sides.

 

“Lance, I know that these memories are causing you a lot of mixed emotions and you probably feel like there is chaos raging on inside of your head, but I need to ask something of you. Look up. No, no, don’t apologise, please. Look at those clouds – they gathered, because you are losing control, but I guess you already know this. What you also have to akcnowledge is that you CAN regain it. Alright, it’s not as simple as it sounds in most cases, but now I think that it would be enough if you just tried to close your eyes and breathe. The night is pretty cold and we don’t really have any shelter here, so could you try it for me?”

 

“I-I’m sorry about this, I didn’t- I just- I am just so damn mad! They didn’t have any right to treat us like that!” Lance raised his voice again.

 

“You are right, Lance and I agree with you, but I really need you to try and calm down. Please, I know you can do it.” Shiro’s voice was reassuring and comforting.

 

Lance inhaled and hold his breath, looking up at the dark sky before he closed his eyes and started to breathe again – slowly, trying to think about the peacful cracking of the wood in the bonfire, the sound of wind rustling through the leaves and Keith’s quiet growls in the distance…

 

Shiro was right – there was no cave near where they could find a shelter, everyone else but him would probably catch a cold if they soaked, the bonfire wouldn’t stand a chance against the rain and all of their stuff would be wet. He had to collect himself.

 

Takashi was looking at him with a fond smile, observing how his body relaxed and breathing became more steady. This boy had come a really long way to this point and he had even longer trip before him, but one thing was sure – he wouldn’t do anything alone anymore.

 

Lance sighed, lowering his head to look at the man with apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Shiro…”

 

“Thank you, Lance. I knew you could regain control.” He reached to touch Lance’s shoulder. “Great job on making the sky clear again.” He gave the boy a smile, pointing up. The stars were visible once more and Lance couldn’t hold back his own lips to not curl a little. “Do you want to continue…?” Shiro’s question brought his attention down again.

 

He was thinking for a moment, but then he nodded a little.

 

“Mom didn’t give me to them, of course, but things started to get only worse at this point… My eyes began to glow permanently. Me and my sisters stopped going out almost at all, because even other kids were picking on us. Probably their parent turned them against us.

When I was twelve, the scales started to grow on my face, shoulders and elbows – sisters always told me that they were pretty, that I was pretty with them. Seriously, if it weren’t for them, I would probably not make it this far… I loved them so much… There were twelve people in our house and we hadn’t much – in fact, we had even less since dad was gone, but… they were everything to me…

That’s why…” He sighed, his vision getting blurry when the tears began to build up in his eyes again. Shiro gently placed his hand on Lance’s forearm, seeing how the boy struggled with the memory.

“That’s why one day I got so angry with that guy… Something killed all of his hens the previous night and I saw him rambling about it to Ellie, my twin sister. He was sure that it was me who slaughtered them, but she was defending me. This bastard pulled her by the collar, arguing with her and before I got there, he slapped her so hard she fell to the ground. I… don’t know how did that happen, but… I was so enraged… I just wanted all of them to leave my family alone. I was screaming my lungs off while punching him, but I was only twelve and he was grown man, I didn’t stand a chance… Rain started pouring from the sky and before I noticed, the man was struck by a thunder. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want this to happen! I couldn’t prevent it! He was dead before he hit the ground and I was so terrified and mad…

haven’t seen my family since that day again… Villagers chased me for several hours, deep into the forest, away from our village. They wanted to kill me. And I knew it would be better for everybody if they managed to do it, but… I didn’t want to die…” Last sentence turned into a whisper, while Lance’s head dropped, so he could recollect himself again.

 

Shiro stayed silent, allowing him to move on in his own pace. Few long minutes that felt like forever flew by, before Lance lifted his head back up.

 

“All of these painful mutations started after this… I was so scared… and alone… I didn’t know what was happening to me, but at the same time I couldn’t bring myself to just end this all. So I kept on living there, in the forest. Few times I had to change the place of my hideout, because villagers were trying to hunt me down… Sometimes I were too afraid to fall asleep, because I wasn’t sure if I would make it until morning…”

 

Shiro was looking at him with worry and sympathy in his eyes – this boy had it the worst from them all so far. No wonders that his body reacted this way due to all this stress.

 

“The moment I panicked the most was few weeks after I discovered that the sides of my neck started to open… I was asleep. At this point my dreams were usually nightmares, so that wasn;t new when in the dream I fell into deep water and started to drown. But… when I woke up gasping for air, I couldn’t take a breath either. So I panicked and then I suffocated even more. My first thought was that… if these 'holes’ on my neck reminded me of gills, then maybe they would work like them. So I ran out of my cave, straight into that lake that was nearby… and it didn’t help. It made it even worse. I managed to take more proper breath when I covered the sides of my neck with my hands… It was horrible… I had to tear the sleeve of my shirt off, so I could wrap it around my gills. You saw me there – I was tearing my only clothes to shreds so much, I was practically naked when you found me… Naked and dirty… I’m sorry I hissed at you… And that I tried to bite you… I thought that villagers sent you to finish me off…” He felt shame talking about this. He behaved like an animal back then and he hated it.

 

“Lance. It’s alright. I understand. I really do.” Shiro smiled at the boy to reassure him. “I am so glad that you’ve decided to trust me and shared this story with me. Now I can tell you what I thought about your mutations – why are they so painfull and distorted – and what turned out to be true. You see – the environment and emotional stability is very important when it comes to them. Yours awoke when you had just been cast away from your home village. You were alone and scared to the point that your body couldn’t develop them properly. Your gills don’t work as they should because of it, your scales grew in various random places instead of regular pattern, see…?” He reached with his hand to gently outline the shape on Lance’s face with his finger, where the scales were growing on his cheeks, right under his eyes and above his eyebrows. “Your tail was also damaged – the shape of its vertebrae were causing your whole spine to distort and it shouldn’t be made of exposed bone. It should be covered in flesh and healthy shiny scales. Lance, look at me.”

Shiro lifted boy’s chin a little, to make him look at him. “Now everything is going to be different. I am going to help you. Haggar is going to help you. You are going to be fine.”

 

Lance couldn’t hold back that smile that bloomed on his face.

“Thanks, Shiro… I just hope that my family is doing okay…”

 

* * *

 

Esmeralda climbed up on a chair – slowlym there was nothing to hurry for nor anyone who would stop her.

 

It was five years ago – the day when these bastards chased away her only son, her beloved pretty Lance. The day these beasts came back at night and slaughtered her ten precious daughters.

 

Why?

 

Out of pure fear that they would also turn into “mosnters”.

 

How horrible things people could bring themselves to do just out of lack of understanding and overtaking fear.

 

She was dragging it for too long now. She couldn’t live like this anymore. Not without her husband. Not without her children. She had nothing. Not anymore.

 

Everybody were on the other side already. It was high time for her too go.

 

She stepped off of the chair, they rope stretched under her weight.

 

She will see them soon enough.


End file.
